Improvement in plant-protectors



p both may be folded or contracted concentrically withport to the device.

'permitted to rise above the hoop, owing to theV fact,

`.ered within the hoop, also allow it, when erected, to

,stent Gettin.

J. wATSoN, .oit1 SHARON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 97,259, dated November 23, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN PLANT-PROTECTORS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

Be it `known that I, J'. M. WAT-SON, of Sharon, in the county oi' Norfolk, and State -of Massachusetts, Yhave made an inventionof a new and useful Plant- Protector, or the supporting-frame or 'skeleton of such protector; and do hereby declare that the following is a description thereof, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, which form a part ofthis specification, in wliich- Figure l is a lperspective representation of the frame of a plant-protector, as folded or contracted into a reduced bulkfor transportation or stowage.

Figure 2 is a like representation of my invention, in an open or extended stat-c, and ready for use.

The purpose of this invention is to produce a plantprotector, which shall secure simplicity, extreme low cost of production, andeii'ectiveuess and durability in use.

I secure this result by the employment of a horizontal hoop, as the chict` support o1' basis of the device and ot' the two bow-shaped or arched standards or supports for upholding the gauze netting, the bows being sopivcted to eachfother at their centres, and one -of them pivoted adjustably, at or near its extremities, to the inrex' periphery of the hoop, that in the area described by the circuinscribing-hoop, pr as represented in tig. 1 of thelaccompanying drawings.

These drawings exhibit, at a, a thin annular hoop, composed of wood'or any suitable substance, and made substantially in the form of an ordinary barrel-hoop, while b denotes a clasp or how, composed of ailat stripof similar material, such bow, when elevated, spanning the hoop, as represented in fig. 2 of the drawmgs.

Each side' of the bow or clasp b, in immediate proximity to the hoop d, is provided withV a slot, c or c', while, extending through this slot and the hoop, and overlapping the how,,isa screw or holt, d or d', the portion of each leg of the bowbelow the hoop serving, by being forced into the earth, as a means of sup- The utility ot' the slots will he apparent when itis observed that they extend beyond the centre from which the arc of the hoop is struck, since, were it not for these slots, a semicircular bow only would be that as the bow must be folded or turned within the hoop, it necessarily cannot exceed a semicircle between its turning-point andlargest radius.

The slots c c', while permitting the bow to be lowacquire a much greater altitude than would otherwise bethe case. v

.v 'lo the inside of the bow 11, I apply a second bow, or support, e, of like size,"- shape, and material, the two being pivoted together at their centres, as shown at a2, but the latter being otherwise disconnected with the hoop.

. more than double that of the skeleton frame.

The legs of this last-mentioned bow serve, in connection with those of the bow b, as supports to sustain the device iu place upon 'the ground.

To contract or reduce the .bulk of the device thus made, the inner bow.l e is to be turned upon the pivotto the extent of one hundred and eighty degrees, which brings it into alignment with the bow b.

The two bows are then to be lowered vertically with respect to the hoop a, until the upper boundaries of the slots c c' bring up against the pins or bolts d d', which thus become pivots, to allow the two bolts to be turned together 'from' a perpendicular position t'o a horizontal one within th'e hoop, or as shown in tig. I ot' the accompanying drawings. rlfhe imple ment, in this contracted condition, occupies very little space-a fact which, in many instances, becomes one ot' importance.

As it is believed that the reader, from the abovel explanation, will readily understand the unfolding of the bows, further elucidation upon lthis point is not iven. g It is not my intention to attach the vgauze netting or covering to the hoop in a permanent manner, but to secure it thereto by an elastic loop, as shown in the drawing, which contracts about it with sufficient tenacity to retain it securely in place.

This mode of applying the gauze covering, then, constitutes one of the 4peculiar cl'laracteristics of. iny invention.

` The advantages of this mode of applying the gauze covering are several: It economizes time, both in applying the original covering orin renewing an old one, which frequently becomes necessary. The cost of the gauze covering or n ettingis considerably greater,

Claim.

-I claim- 1. A plant-protector 4frame, composed of the hoop a,- and bows band e, such bows being pivoted together, and the former pivoted to the hoop, and the -whole heilig combined and operating as explained.

2. In combination with the above, the gauze covcrf p ing, or shield, and the elastic band or loop, the whole arranged and operating ,substantially as described.

l J. M. WATSON.

Witnesses.:

M. ANTOINE'TTE WATSON, E. GRIFFITH.

This. 

